The ruggedly beautiful Fogo Island lies off the northeast coast of Newfoundland. In this remote corner of Canada, traces of Elizabethan English and Old Irish dialects may still be heard, and remnants of ancient folk customs shape the lives of its inhabitants. However, in recent years, economic hardship has taken a toll, forcing many to leave. Homes once full of fiddle music, are now decaying, becoming part of the tundra landscape. In this beautifully melancholic drama, three island residents hold on to a way of life that is quickly disappearing, a way of life that is etched into every wrinkle of their faces and beat of their blood.

A brief but absorbing chronicle of stubborn survival...of a handful of human beings who want to live a certain way, perhaps, because only in this way do they truly feel alive. Ernesto Diezmartinez, CineVértigo

Yulene Olaizola was born in Mexico City in 1983. Her first documentary, Shakespeare and Victor Hugo’s Intimacies (2008), screened in more than 25 international film festivals and won numerous awards. Fogo was created during an artist residency program of Fogo Island Arts. It premiered at the 2012 Directors' Fortnight in Cannes.